Dragon Age: Campfire Tales  Their First Night
by beanball
Summary: A short one-shot based on my OA stories.  While they had been rather friendly with each other for some time, the witch had never stayed with him an entire night.  This time The Warden asks her to stay and learns the real reason for her reluctance.


_This short scene is one of the many small snippets I used to help me define the characters for both OA and Black Warden. These scenes were usually extremely rough and I never really intended on posting them because they had no real place in the stories. But since we were only given very few such scenes between Morrigan and the Warden during the game, I had to come up with some of my own. It gave me a means to give the characters depth and believability, yet still come across as the same characters we all know from the game._

_In this particular situation, Morrigan has to deal with telling someone else a very embarrassing secret about herself. Even finding that doing it her way isn't easy for the witch._

**Campfire Tales - Their First Night**

Once again night had come to Ferelden and throughout the land the people lay tucked in their comfortable beds, uncertain of what tomorrow would bring. Even in the camp of the Grey Warden and his companions, all was quiet and still. Only the faint sound of snoring coming from Alistair's tent and the occasional bark from the Warden's mabari disrupted the silence. Still, though, a lone lamp flickered against the darkness. It was the Warden's lamp. He was entertaining a guest of the most intimate variety.

The witch, Morrigan, joined him in his tent as she had done nearly every night. The passion they shared would rage out of control and consume them, leaving them both exhausted and spent. Afterward, Morrigan would gather her clothes, rush out the tent, and scramble back to her own, trying her best to stay to the shadows so as not to be seen by the others. But this night something different happened. Something that she both hoped and feared he would do.

She lay naked beside him, nestled in his large bedroll. Both of them were drenched with sweat from intense love-making. The witch's breathing was still heavy and labored and her heart pounded heavily in her chest. He had introduced her to something new this night, something the witch found she liked rather a lot and she was feeling especially satisfied.

"Thank you, my sweet." she said, turning her face to place a soft kiss before pulling herself out of the bedroll and gathering her clothes.

"You don't have to rush off. Since you're already here, and I'm here, and I have this nice soft spot next to me just big enough..." he replied, trying to lead her with his eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"Why don't you stay with me tonight?"

"Do not be absurd." Morrigan shot back, "'Tis positively out of the question."

"Why?"

"Because I prefer the comfort of my own tent and the _privacy_ it affords." Morrigan quipped, casting a stern glare that urged him to drop the subject.

"What is it that you do in there every night? Do you ever sleep?"

"How do you mean?"

"Each night you leave here and go back to your tent. But the lamp always stays lit. You never blow it out."

"If you must know, I've many preparations that must be made each day and it requires a great deal of time and effort. Time I am wasting by being here with you. Admittedly, I've fallen asleep on occasion while studying some ancient texts and hadn't doused the lamp." Morrigan explained.

"You do that _every_ night? I don't buy it."

"Are you truly implying that I have some ulterior motive for leaving my lamp burning?"

"No...but you are hiding something. What is it you're not wanting to tell me?"

"I hide nothing. If I desire to have my lamp burning, then I shall do so. I've no need for your approval. "

"I didn't mean it like that. What I was trying to say is that you can trust me." the Warden said while he looked deep into her soft golden eyes.

"Trust is for fools." she snapped back.

"That may be so. But I have to know that you trust me. What we have together is great, but I want more. And I think you do, too."

"What we want bears no relevance. "

"Yes it does. What we want means everything. And I want to be with you."

"Do not say such things! Damn this weakness which torments me." she fumed, darting her eyes from his gaze.

"Morrigan..." he said as he put his hand against her chin and gently brought her eyes back to meet his, "We both know how we feel about each other. Not saying the words doesn't mean it isn't so. You know I could never hurt you. Let me show you that you can trust me."

_You could hurt me far greater than any other_, the witch thought to herself. "And, exactly, how do you propose we accomplish that?" she asked.

"Start with something small. Tell me why you leave your lamp on."

The witch groaned and rolled her eyes, "And we are back to that again, are we?"

"That's not something small, is it?" he asked, finally realizing the matter was bigger than he thought. "You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

"You simply will not drop the matter, will you?" she huffed, "I tire of this. I am leaving."

"Wait...wait. I'm sorry. I'll shut up about it. Just stay with me. Don't leave this time."

"If it will get you to keep quiet, then I shall stay this one time." she said, moving away from the tent opening and joining him once more in his bedroll, "But do not expect this to become a habit."

"I won't." he said as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

"To think, you would accuse _me_ of all people of being afraid of the dark. I, who have seen and heard things that would freeze the very blood in your veins. I am all too familiar with the darkness and the creatures that reside there, having been in their presence countless times." Morrigan said, defending herself and obviously agitated by the matter, "Since I was a small girl, I've been accustomed to their screams, and to those of the men whom they devoured. At night I would lie awake in my bed. In the darkened room, I could hear Flemeth and her victims. Twas always the same. I would lay there silently, knowing what torment awaited me should I make any noise, while their shrieks of pain filled the room. And then came the screams and cries of the foul hideous beasts come to flay the poor man's flesh."

"Morrigan..." he whispered.

"I see it clearly in my head each night. I hear the sounds of the men as they cried out in pain and the savage howls of the creatures who came to feast on them. No, 'tis not the dark that I fear, 'tis the creatures that hide within it." she finished, her voice trailing off to almost a whisper.

"It's alright. After what you've seen, it's understandable."

"I'll not have you thinking me afraid of the dark. I merely...dislike it." she responded, trying very hard not to succumb to the immense embarrassment she was feeling.

"You have my promise. I won't tell a soul." he assured as he leaned over to blow out the lamp.

"Uhh...would you mind...?" the witch asked, sheepishly.

"I think we can leave this burning for tonight." the Warden replied as he rolled back over and scooped the witch up in his arms, "Now, let me properly welcome you into my bed."

"That sounds like a good idea, indeed."


End file.
